Planning for a better La Junta

The Community Conversations meeting on Aug. 15 focused on planning for a better La Junta.

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LA Junta Tribune - La Junta, CO

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Posted Aug. 20, 2013 at 4:00 PM

Posted Aug. 20, 2013 at 4:00 PM

Over 30 people attended Community Conversations on Thursday, Aug. 15 at The Barista in La Junta, including several candidates for City Council and Mayor. The August topic was Guiding Our Future – Defining Our Own Community Values. Participants were asked three questions: (1) Tell us Your Story – Why are you in La Junta? (2) Why do you stay in La Junta? And (3) As you look to the future: How would you help shape La Junta's future?

Overwhelmingly, people said they stay in La Junta because of the people. They have good friends here and even strangers make them feel welcome. Others either came to La Junta or stay in La Junta because of work. Amenities that help make La Junta an appealing place to live were listed as: Otero Junior College, art and culture – including live theatre and music, the many non-profits that serve La Junta's citizens, and recreational facilities.

Wish List for Shaping a Better La Junta

There was nearly an hour of discussion about what amenities or plans La Junta needed to help improve the quality of life for current and future citizens. The main wish to tie all others together was PLANNING. Most agreed that we had good ideas. We had years of good ideas, but we did not have coordinated planning that included process, collaboration and implementation. There was a consensus to have a short-term and long-term vision and a process for how to get things done. Many also felt strongly that the plan needed to include new revenue streams to put the plan into place as well as a revenue stream to implement and maintain new ventures or industries.

Specific wish lists included:

Would like to see the town be more progressive and aggressive

Want a dog park

Want more river-related activities and/or want the river to be fully developed with recreational, educational, and artistic ventures.

Revitalize the downtown to be more vibrant and attractive to tourists. Some tourists are here for a few hours as a stop-over and are looking for things to see and do downtown. We have little to offer them right now.

Revitalize the downtown with live/work space, bringing college students into the mix to live and be entertained. Right now it is not attractive to tourists or to college students. We do not look like a college town.

Support existing small businesses, especially downtown.

Preserve historic buildings and homes. Tourists want to look at buildings with character.

Build a trail/path system throughout La Junta and along the river.

Bring in clean industry.

Bring in industries that provide for alternative energy.

Revisit utility costs. They are still among the highest in the state.

Explore hemp as an industry. It can be used for fuel, to make clothes and other products.

Pay attention to the younger generation. Being a retirement community is fine, but it will not keep the town alive. We need young people to live, work and raise young families here.

Support our non-profits. They are the strength of our community.

Support and enhance live theatre and music.

Create an art district.

Develop and implement a plan to bring and keep doctors in the community and working collaboratively with the hospital.

Develop a plan for taking care of the trees.

Work more collaboratively with the college.

Enhance heritage tourism possibilities.

Enhance the resources and amenities we already have to expand industries and tourism.

Build on the strength of our diversity. Make all cultures and genders feel welcome and safe. Meet them where they are.

Sense of "at homeness" and community could strengthen our future.

Expand and support recycling ventures.

Work with industries that might maintain a corporate structure in Denver, but place their manufacturing facilities here.

Utilize the airport, railway and other transportation systems to our advantage.

Have to convince people to "build it and they will come", citing the new Tiger Field as an example of a facility that not everyone supported, but everyone is using it.

Page 2 of 2 - For any "wish list" or plan to build new or expand facilities answer these questions first: (1) why do we want or need it, (2) who is going to be involved, (3) who will pay for it, (4) who will use the facility, (5) who will pay for the cost and resources to maintain it. If we don't have a viable answer for all these questions, we may not need it or be able to afford it.

There was some discussion about a recent City Council decision and questions about whether the Council listens to its constituents. Councilman Frank McKenzie spoke for himself about his Council decision-making process, saying there can be more transparency than there is, but that there is a lot of work that goes into making decisions. The Council delayed this vote for two months so that they could gather more information from the state and from his constituents in Ward 2 before making a decision.